Comments

More Picks

Good One, Indeed: Pick Goodonehoney in Friday's Preakness Prelim

Justify will try to keep his Triple Crown hopes alive this weekend in the 143rd Preakness Stakes. As a warm-up, Friday's card at Pimlico Race Course gets the party started.

Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore is the place to be this weekend, with a two-day card of major graded stakes action starting Friday. I have broken down the field for Friday’s top three races to come up my "best bet" pick to win.

Adena Springs Miss Preakness Stakes

This is a Grade 3 event for 3-year-old fillies with a total prize purse of $150,000. It will be contested on the dirt track at Pimlico over six furlongs.

There are 10 entrants in this year’s Miss Preakness, with six of them holding a Horse Racing Nation rating to add some solid depth to the competition. The contender at the top of that list with a rating of 6.91 would also be my top choice to win this race. Trainer Jeremiah Englehart’s I Still Miss You will be making her 3-year-old debut following an impressive juvenile campaign that included a victory in the ungraded Key Cents Stakes at Aqueduct in late November. This New York-bred filly covered the six furlongs on dirt in 1:12.98 over Pure Silver and Indy’s Lady.

Sired by Majestic Warrior and Lion’s Terms, she finished in the money in four of the six events she ran as a 2-year-old. Jockey Jorge Vargas will be on board Friday.

Pimlico Special

With a total prize purse of $300,000, this is Friday’s featured race at Pimlico for 3-year-old thoroughbreds and older. This Grade 3 stakes race will be contested on the dirt over a distance of 1 3/16 miles.

There are a few veteran racers in the nine-horse field including Irish War Cry and Afleet Willy, but I have circled trainer Todd Pletcher’s One Liner as my top pick to win with jockey Luis Saez getting the ride. This 4-year-old Kentucky-bred colt comes into this race ranked 139th by HRN with the second-best rating in the field at 7.61. Through five career events, he has won four times including a victory in an Allowance Claimer at Keeneland on April 21 at 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.35. He started his 4-year-old campaign with a third-place run in a seven-furlong Allowance Claimer at Gulfstream in early February.

This son of Into Mischief made a splash on last year’s Kentucky Derby Trail with a victory in the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park over Petrov and Lookin At Lee.

Xpressbet Black-Eyed Susan Stakes

The highlight of Friday’s race card at Pimlico is the 94th running of the Black-Eyed Susan as a Grade 2 stakes race open to 3-year-old fillies. It will be contested on the dirt at a distance of 1 1/8 miles and the total prize purse is set at $250,000.

The field has 10 fillies listed as entered, including four contenders currently ranked by HRN. Going with the betting theory that winner’s win, I am going with trainer Jason Egan’s Goodonehoney as my top pick. This 3-year-old Maryland-bred filly is coming off an impressive victory in the ungraded Weber City Miss Stakes at Laurel Park on April 21. She covered the 1 1/16 miles on dirt in 1:43.49 over Indy Union and Shamrock Rose.

Sired by Great Notion and Diva’s Gold, this was the only competitive stakes race she has run in her two-year racing career. With just two career races on the resume, the lack of experience could be a concern. However, the way she handled herself in that latest victory is good enough for me. Look for jockey Steve Hamilton to get the ride.